The Heart's Rescue
by qtpiedollie
Summary: Sora, Riku, and Kairi are back at Destiny Islands. When a mysterious enemy  Vanitas  comes and kidnaps Kairi, Sora and Riku learn of a past that they never expected. They must help the BBS trio and save Kairi. STORY IS BETTER THAN SUMMARY. PLEASE READ!
1. Mysterious Enemy

heyy thanks for reading! this is my first fanfic, so i would LOOOVEEE some reviews but try not to be too too mean. i uploaded the first five chapters together, so the sixth will be here soon.

-DISCLAIMER-

I dont own any of the worlds, characters, or weapons in this fanfic. I dont own Kingdom Hearts

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><p>Sora ran down the board walk to Riku's little island. He made sure Riku had been on it before he ran to check it out. Sure enough, Riku was sitting on his tree. The tree's truck bent over so far you could sit on it and not fall off. Long gray hair flew over the 17- year- old's shoulders. Riku seemed to be lost in thought, because he just stared into the water, not saying anything.<br>"Riku!" Sora called to his friend. Riku seemed to be snapped out of the day-dream and he almost fell off the tree into the sand. At the last second he leaned the other way and steadied himself. Riku turned to face Sora, who was a year younger than him.  
>"What's the deal?"<br>Sora stood, bent over, panting. Then he straightened up and said, "I've been running around this island non-stop looking... Huff huff... For Kairi. Have you seen her?"  
>Riku had not seen the 16-year-old red head. In fact, he was surprised she was not with Sora. Riku used to like Kairi, but things had happened to let him know Sora was meant for her. Riku had almost let the darkness take his heart and when Ansem took control of his body, he had tried to take Sora's and Kairi's hearts as well. He conquered the darkness inside of him, but sometimes it still bothered him to know it was there.<br>"She isn't with you?" Riku asked and hopped off his tree. Sora's face showed his surprise to hear that reply. He didn't think they were love-birds!  
>"Why would she be? I mean-" A embarrassed Sora was cut off by a scream. It was Kairi's scream.<br>"Well I just heard her now," Riku said. Sora nodded and both boys started to run to where they thought the scream was coming from.

~AFTER RUNNING AROUND, THE BOYS FINALLY FOUND KAIRI~

Kairi was lying down on the sand beside the mini-waterfall. The boys didn't notice that the waterfall's water was turning a darker shade of blue than usual. They just ran over to Kairi.  
>"Kairi!" Sora turned her over so she wasn't laying face-down. Kairi was not conscious. Sora shook her shoulders, but Riku hung back. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that if he got any closer to Kairi, something bad would happen. He didn't want that.<br>"Kairi!" Sora shouted and shook her violently, as she was not waking up. The mini waterfall's water was black now. Riku stepped back, scared for Kairi, and thinking his darkness as the cause of it. He looked at the water and drew his key blade. Sora laid Kairi's head down and looked at the key blade in surprise. All of a sudden the boys heard a voice shout.  
>"Hurry! It will close on us!" The voice sounded a lot like Sora's. Then tons of creatures spilled out of a portal hidden in the black water. Riku or Sora couldn't quite tell who these creatures were, as they looked like a mixture of a Heartless and a Nobody. The creatures ignored the three like they weren't even important. That made Sora angry. It was their island. Whoever was invading it would have to go through him first. Kairi... Riku... He had to protect them. Sora thought Riku could take care of himself fine, but a little help never hurt.<br>"Why? What? No!" The Sora-sounding voice got louder. Sora turned to Riku.  
>"Take Kairi and get out of here. If you want to, you can come back and fight," Sora commanded. Riku smirked a little, and then thought over what Sora was actually trying to hold back. An army of what-cha-ma-call-its and an unknown guy who sounded like Sora were dangerous sounding. But Riku figured Sora could do it. He would take Kairi and then race back.<br>"Okay, but..." What advice could Riku give him? "Be careful."  
>And he grabbed Kairi and ran off.<p>

~THE ARMY OF WHAT-CHA-MA-CALL-IT'S AND THEIR LEADER GOT CLOSER AND CLOSER TO WHERE SORA WAS STANDING~

'Can I do this?' Sora asked himself many times as he summoned and un-summoned his key blade, The Ultima. 'Ummmmmm...' He was undecided, but then he heard the voice. It scared him, to think of himself leading an army to destroy a world. The voice was so strange sounding like him, so scary sounding like him, that he decided he must stop its owner.  
>"HE'S HERE?"<br>Suddenly Sora saw him. The creatures surrounded him. 'Guess they notice me now,' he thought to himself, cursing because he had not hidden to wait for Riku and create an ambush.  
>"Who are you?" Sora asked, trying to put a tone of bravery in his voice. But he was losing. He himself wasn't scared; it just seemed the enemy had a power to suck the will to fight out of you.<br>"Me? How does he not know me? Have you already forgotten?" The swarm of new enemies parted so Sora could see their leader.  
>"Hello then. I'm Vanitas. I would've guessed that you would still remember me, but it doesn't really matter. I destroyed you once as a different person, but you now have his heart. Only you have the power to bring him back and restore him, so I have to... I won't say kill... Either way, you won't exist after this fight."<br>Sora stared. How would he know this boy? And more importantly, how does this boy know him? Vanitas had jet black spiky hair identical to Sora's, but his pale skin was more muscular. There was a smirk on his lips but confusion and worry in his golden-brown eyes.  
>Vanitas summoned his key blade and got in a fighting stance that was all too similar for Sora. That's because it was Riku's stance. Sora, however did not summon his key blade. It was all just too much to absorb in the quick time he had learned everything.<br>Vanitas leaped forward, and Sora blinked before the blade came down on him. His weapon appeared the moment he wished, and he blocked himself from Vanitas' blow. Sora jumped back and panted. He hadn't expected a fight with a key blade wielder. Vanitas grinned a sly grin.  
>"Don't act so surprised. It hurts my feelings," he said sarcastically. Sora decided to forget everything this guy had told him.<br>'Just focus on defeating him,' he thought. 'But maybe I should speak to this Vanitas guy.'  
>Sora swallowed his confusion and doubts that this would do any good, and started to speak.<br>"Listen," Sora was surprised at how weak his voice sounded. Then he remembered when he first saw Vanitas, he felt the same way. But Sora had a creeping suspicion that it wasn't him who was actually scared. He had risen up to fight many evil creatures, and all of them, he defeated. Sora thought Vanitas had a way to force your mind to be scared of him. That thought alone worried him. If he could make anyone in any world tremble of frightment in his presence, who knows what he could do! Sora decided to push against his power. He looked up right into his golden-brown eyes, and started to talk.  
>"I don't know you. Nobody knows you. You should leave before me and friends make you."<br>But instead of being more frightened, the strange light of worry in Vanitas' eyes disappeared.  
>"Sorry kid, but anyone who tries to drive me out gets it."<br>Sora frowned. He didn't like the way Vanitas called him kid, like he was too pathetic to matter or care about.  
>Vanitas smiled. Not a just-kidding-I-won't-kill-you sort of smile, a you-don't-see-how-stupid-you-look-right-now sort of smile. Sora hated the way it formed on his lips, but he got a strange feeling from it. Like that smile had been there before, and what he said was true. It was like Vanitas knows what he's doing. A frightening thought came to Sora's mind: What if he did?<p>

Sora flew back, into a young palm tree. Sora winced as it moaned and fell over to the ground. The sweat had long before started forming at the top of his forehead, and it still ran down his face. His magical key blade disappeared from his hands.  
>"Why do you even try? I mean, I haven't told you EVERYTHING. So, I could strike a deal with you. I don't let you know everything, give you a day to practice your fighting, and you come back as a decent match."<br>Sora blinked. "What?"  
>Vanitas held his chin high in the air and laughed. It wasn't the laugh that Sora had expected to come out of those lips. It was evil, all right, but strangely kind. It was like the laugh's evil shell was crumbling and you could peek into the light of it. Vanitas' eyes widened for not even a split second, as he took note of it too. He quickly replaced the evil outer shell of the sound. But Sora was still confused. Vanitas had seemed completely evil to him, but was it possible there was some light in him? And, if there was, could Sora get to it?<br>"Sora? That's your name, right?" Vanitas frowned disapprovingly upon Sora. "By the way people talked about you, I thought you'd be more of a threat. But I guess not."  
>Sora looked down at the silver chain hanging on his neck. Then he peered at the crown charm hanging from it. He didn't know where it came from, but to him, it symbolized his need to right wrongs and triumph over the darkness. And Sora knew, without a doubt, Vanitas was pure darkness.<br>"No, I am a threat. A real one. I can't let you get away with this, or anything."  
>Vanitas seemed surprised at Sora's sudden serious tone of voice.<br>"And, to save my friends," Sora's voice cracked, but he forced it to steady. "You're going down, no matter the cost!"  
>Vanitas was still not amused. "What a great show. But what about your existence? What will become of that?"<br>To be honest, Sora didn't know himself. But he couldn't let Vanitas know that. Instead he summoned his key blade, as the power to fight rose inside him. Vanitas' face remained emotionless. He raised his hand up over his head, and threw his key blade up in the air all in one smooth motion. The key blade circled in the warm island air, then exploded in a flash of dark light. The darkness rained down on both boys, Sora confused, but Vanitas had seen this all before. It was HIS key blade after all. A new key blade landed in the palm of Vanitas' hand. This one was a darker shade of black, it was bigger and more elaborate, but most of all, the way it looked... with Vanitas was right.  
>"Alright, of you want to fight, let's get this over with. I've got better things to do than waste time with you," Vanitas sighed, and pointed his key blade so it was just a couple of inches from Sora's chest.<br>Sora just stared at it. His mind suddenly went blank, and he didn't know what to do. His hands relaxed and Vanitas smiled. The key blade was getting closer and closer to Sora. The black pointed end suddenly was drawn back by Vanitas, and Sora blinked in confusion. He couldn't move, but why? Why would he need to?  
>"Sora!" A voice panicked.<br>Vanitas thrust the key blade forward, and Sora stared. What was that sword thing? Why was it going toward him? Would it hurt him?  
>Right as the key blade touched Sora's chest, before it could hurt him, Riku rushed forward. He barreled over to where they were standing. Sora's friend used his dark key blade to knock Vanitas' weapon to the floor. Sora's spiky brown hair flew in the breeze as Vanitas' spell wore off. He remembered everything. He was the key blade's chosen one. Vanitas was the enemy and Sora had to stop him.<br>The black haired boy stared at his key blade lying in the grass. Sora's muscles screamed as he reached down to steal it, but a surprising force blew him back. Vanitas smirked as the darkness that was used cleared the air.  
>"Idiot. Unlike you, I have more weapons than just the key blade," Vanitas laughed. And Riku's jaw hit the floor.<br>"But I'm the only one who had used the darkness like that!" Riku protested against Vanitas' power. He peered down at his hands, and saw himself using the darkness against his friends replay in his head for the hundredth time. Sora winced at the memory. Battling Riku as the darkness consumed him was not an easy battle. But saving his friend had been worth it. Riku had said a million times he was sincerely sorry, and every time Sora and Kairi said not to worry. Riku's friends had known he'd been told lies and they shouldn't hold that against him. Still, Riku always has a empty feeling when the darkness is mentioned.  
>Vanitas laughed mockingly.<br>"Stupid. I am darkness. Have you always thought you were the only one to use it?"  
>When Riku didn't answer, Vanitas just frowned. He closed his eyes, lost in his mind, thinking of what to do next. A look of disconcert crept over the features of his face as he came upon a decision. Vanitas willed his key blade to disappear in a cloud of black smoke, and waved his hand dismissively.<br>"I have better things to do than play fight with you. I came here for other... things," Vanitas smiled as a doorway of darkness opened behind him. Sora didn't try to even follow his evil look-a-like as Vanitas slowly backed into his corridor. Riku rushed forward, ready to throw himself into the darkness. Right as he passed his younger friend, Riku was stopped. Sora's hand lay firmly on Riku's shoulder, and Riku spun around to demand why he was stopped. Sora peered up at the 17 year old with sad eyes and shook his head. Riku's eyes widened as he understood what Sora meant. Riku was saved from the darkness. Sora and Kairi's light had leaded him out of it. But now, as he wasn't darkness anymore, Riku can't use it or pass through it.  
>Riku smiled at his friend, and then thought about what Vanitas might be after.<br>When a sudden realization came to him, Riku barreled past Sora and through the tropical bushes Destiny Islands contained.


	2. Remembering and His Powers

"Wait!" Sora yelled then started to dash after Riku. He did not succeed. Sora stumbled, almost tripping himself, but quickly caught his pace again and went after his best friend. When Sora was submerged in a part of the jungle he was not entirely familiar with, the 16 year old found himself tripping over roots of trees.  
>"Riku!" Sora shouted, after running a little while, ready to give up. But then he caught a glimpse of Riku's shiny silver hair, white vest, and blue pants. Sora noticed Riku's running pace was faster than usual. He also remembered running with Riku before, and when they did, Riku running always seemed like a pleasure cruise to him. Considering how much faster Riku was going, Sora decided half heartily that was probably his friend's sprint. It put a pang in his chest, to realize Riku was slowing down and putting up an illusion that he was weaker than what was true, just so his strength would balance with Sora's. Even though his muscles ached, Sora sped up to reach his friend to know what he was worried about.<br>"Riku! Riku! RIKU!" Sora screamed, trying to desperately get Riku's attention. His legs screamed, and they started to slow down, against Sora's will. But they picked up speed as Sora's eyes widened when Riku responded.  
>"That guy! With black hair! He's after Kairi! Hurry!"<br>Riku disappeared through some more dark greens bushes, but as Sora neared the plants, sunlight peeked between its leaves.  
>'The sunlight!' Sora thought giddily. They were approaching the end of the spider web of dark green plants. As the sixteen year old burst out of the forest's trap of trees, his lungs breathed in fresh, warm, island air. He smiled, remembering all the fun times he had shared with Riku and Kairi here on Destiny Islands. He also remembered the raft. About two years ago, the three kids had gathered logs and such. Since Kairi had come to the islands, Riku had had his heart set on seeing other worlds. Sora had not been as curious, as he liked Destiny Islands, and Kairi had said she wouldn't have minded seeing her home world. So, as fate would have it, they built a raft. But before their great adventure could begin, a dark storm rolled in. Later, the three realized the storm was actually many Heartless, or black beings born from the darkness in one's heart, coming to invade the world. Sora had gone a big journey after being sucked into the darkness (and being taken to a world called Traverse Town) to find the door to light and his friend. Not to forget his friends, Goofy and Donald Duck. They had been searching for their king; who was later discovered to be a mouse named Mickey. Sora had rescued Kairi and saved Riku from the darkness he was tricked into by defeating a Heartless named Ansem. Ansem was the Heartless of a scientist named Xehanort, who willingly became a being with no heart, then stealing his master's name for himself. After Xehanort's heartless had been destroyed, Riku had been locked behind the door to light, as only true darkness could pass through it. Kairi was sent back to Destiny Islands, and Sora went on ahead to Castle Oblivion, where an organization of 13 men worked. They wore long black cloaks, and each had a special power to try to defeat Sora with. After five organization members of the six that had been there were eliminated, Sora had already lost all of his memories of Riku and Kairi. A girl with blonde hair pulled onto her left shoulder and a white dress had come to Sora, Donald, and Goofy's aid. Her name had been Namine. Namine had claimed to have the power to take apart and rearrange people's memories. Sora decided the best thing to do would be to lose all memories of him and his friends in Castle Oblivion, and gain the memories of his first adventure back. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were let into sleeping pods, so they could rest while Namine did her work. It had taken a year, and when he was awakened, the now fifteen year old was thrust into a new journey. Sora had learned that after all they'd been through, he and his friends were still not safe. While Sora had been sleeping and regaining his memory, Kairi had been losing her memory of Sora. Not knowing who Sora was, she wouldn't go back to the island until her dilemma was solved. Finally, after talking to Roxas, Kairi was given a hint by Sora: that his name starts with an "S". Then, having remembered her friend's name, Kairi traveled back to Destiny Islands. A member of the organization named Axel came to get Kairi to help him to find Roxas, who had disappeared. Kairi refused, but was later kidnapped. Sora, having found out this, traveled to many different worlds to search for his friends once again. He stumbled across many clues to finally lead him to a world, which held the organization's stronghold. The group of now four nobodies, or beings with no hearts, resided there. Kairi was being held captive there. Sora had already defeated two organization members, and had gotten unexpected help from another. The helper had sacrificed his being for a attack that would save Sora. Racing after King Mickey, Sora and his friends arrived at the organization's castle, which was planted in the center of the world, floating in air as skyscrapers surrounded it. Inside, Sora discovered Riku hiding. When Riku took off the hood of his organization cloak, he was revealed to look like Ansem. But Kairi, having been freed by Namine, convinced Sora not to worry about Riku's appearance. He agreed and they went on to fight the remaining members of the organization waiting in the castle. After the leader had been eliminated, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Kairi, and Riku went home to Destiny Islands. But some time ago, King Mickey said he and his friends had to go back to his world because of their family there. He wondered what new things would be thrown at him...<br>"Sora!" Riku shouted, and Sora blinked away his day-dream. He spun around quickly to observe his surroundings, so he could use them against his opponents. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw Vanitas come forward, his big, dark key blade in his hand. Riku and Sora summoned their key blades and spread their big shoes apart, about shoulder length. The sunlight bounced off of Riku's Way to the Dawn key blade and made the metal look less dark.  
>"Oh, so the tall one is smart," Vanitas snickered as Sora turned to glance at Riku. He raised his hand so it was level with the top of his head, then pressed to the middle of Riku's forehead.<br>"Yep, Riku, you're taller than me," Sora declared, but the two boys just stared at Sora with a questioning look. Sora stared blankly, not understanding.  
>Vanitas burst out laughing.<br>"Wow! A threat! The Unversed were kidding me! You're even more stupid than I thought!"  
>"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, and then realized how childish that sounded. As he replayed Vanitas' insult in his head again for the fourth time, Sora wondered about something.<br>"What's an Unversed?" Sora demanded, thinking Vanitas was getting the name mixed up with Nobodies or Heartless. The creatures that first swarmed Riku and Sora flew toward Vanitas, leaving the boys to wonder what they were. Sora stared daggers at Vanitas, while Riku instinctively summoned his key blade. He didn't care if Sora didn't want to fight the creatures, just Vanitas, but Riku had to protect Kairi, as she was one of the seven princesses of heart.  
>Vanitas frowned, searched Sora's face, and then shrugged.<br>"Oh well. You really don't remember..." A sly grin crept across the features of Vanitas' face. "But that doesn't matter. As my other, you will be destroyed."  
>Riku was surrounded by the creatures, which pushed him farther and farther away from Sora. They built a shield to keep him from going forward.<br>"Sora! You'll have to fight him!" Riku shouted, reaching out for Sora, but knowing the creatures were too strong to break through. And more and more were arriving to reinforce the starters. Riku wondered panicky when the numbers would be too great for him to hold back.  
>Sora nodded in Riku's direction, not saying anything but letting his friend know he'd heard him. Then he turned back to the threat of the Destiny Islands. Sora's key blade, The Ultima, was pointed at Vanitas as its owner rushed forward. As the strike got closer and closer to the victim, Vanitas smiled. He waved his hand, and The Ultima was stopped in the middle of Sora's attack.<br>"What- What's Happening?" Sora exclaimed, looking around franticly. He was frozen, and his attack against Vanitas would not work. The boy with jet-black hair stepped forward and reached for the Ultima. Sora's eyes widened as he realized he had no control over what Vanitas was doing. A sudden gust of the island's wind knocked Sora over, but finally enabling him to move once again. He gritted his teeth, and flashed Vanitas an angry look. In Vanitas' hand was the Ultima, and he eyed it very carefully, half-expecting Sora to use his powers as a key blade master to attack him from afar. Sora pulled himself off the light tan colored sand ground, and raised his arm so it was level with his shoulder. Sora stretched his hand out, so it was flat, but his fingers were facing Vanitas. A few seconds passed, and the villain stood before Sora, waiting.  
>"I don't understand your technique. What are you trying to do?" Vanitas asked Sora. A powerful sphere of darkness surrounded Vanitas, so Sora knew that he couldn't just charge him. He closed his eyes, concentrating. Sora had to summon his key blade to come back to him, and make it leave Vanitas' hand. Riku, who was fighting many Unversed, looked up for a second at Sora. In that second, as the Unversed greatly out-numbered Riku, Riku's enemies swarmed him.<br>"Sora!" Riku yelled, not thinking twice. The older boy knew Sora had to defeat Vanitas, even if Riku would have to try to defend himself without a key blade. Riku also knew Sora had to protect Kairi, and the different worlds the trio had visited. He thought over the situation for even less than a split second, because he knew in his damaged heart what he had to do.


	3. We Won

this chapter is so short... woopsies. haha :) please leave a review if you read this, it would make me REALLY HAPPY! :))

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><p>When Sora whirled around, thinking he had to protect his friend, Riku yelled "Here!"<br>The Way to the Dawn, Riku's key blade, was thrown through the air and into Sora's hands. Sora stared at the weapon, but looked at Riku, who was dodging and jumping over the Unversed attacking him. They were attacking him with a greater force now that his weapon was in another person's hands.  
>"Sora! Fight Vanitas!" Riku yelled to his friend, in a tone that clearly stated, "Don't worry about me." Sora didn't know how he couldn't worry about Riku, but when Vanitas charged toward him, both his dark key blade and the Ultima in his hands, Sora had no choice. The sixteen-year-old held up the Way to the Dawn and pushed Vanitas back. Right before Vanitas would've flew back, as any other enemy would, he threw the dark key blade behind Sora. Sora glided away from Vanitas until about 50 feet was put between them. The dark key blade flew past Sora, and he turned to hit it away from him. The dark key blade made a clattering sound as it fell onto the grass and disappeared in a puff of black clouds, or darkness. There was only one place it would have reappeared to, and Sora came to his realization and stepped to the side just as the Ultima grazed his left, with Vanitas having just thrown it. Blood flowed freely from the wound, but Sora willed his key blade to disappear in a flash of light and back into his hands. Now he had two key blades. Riku let out a yelp, and flew backwards into a palm tree as the Unversed split up and headed for different targets. Sora watched in horror as Riku stood up and his wounds were revealed. His many bruises hid under his clothes, and dirt covered the blood seeping through his long pants. Sora raced over to his friend, and, duel wielding both his and Riku's key blades, knocked many Unversed to the ground.<br>"What are these things?" Sora asked as the enemies peeled themselves off the floor and headed for the boys again. Vanitas, however, just stood by, watching.  
>"They were created from my negative emotions. I'm strong, so they won't give up easily. Try to defeat them if you dare, but it's smarter to just run," Vanitas mocked. Riku glared, his mind reeling as he actually considered retreating. But no, that was not an option. Sora handed The Way to the Dawn back to Riku, and Riku began to fight. Every few attacks, he would stumble, and Sora knew Riku needed a little extra help.<br>"Riku, take this," Sora commanded, after digging around in his pockets and pulling out a potion. Riku grabbed the potion, and ducked while a Unversed zoomed above his head. He jerked his hand closer to his body as an Unversed flew toward him, wildly waving its arms around. Sora leaped in front of Riku and batted the Unversed to the ground. They knew Riku wasn't a force to be reckoned with, and because of that, they were trying to keep him from healing himself. Riku turned his back to Sora, and they started to fight back to back. Sora attacked the Unversed with many blows, while Riku single-handedly swatted the Unversed away and drank the potion. After Riku's wounds were healed, he whispered to Sora, "Go into your drive form."  
>Sora nodded, and then everyone was blinded by a brilliant flash of light. Riku's eyes stayed open, as he had seen this light before, and he looked on to Vanitas, who stepped back but also kept his eyes open. When the bright light faded away, everyone saw Sora differently. He was wearing his same outfit, except it was white and black. The trim on the sleeves of his jacket and pants were black with a white, dragon-like design. He was wielding two key blades, both of which belonged to his nobody, Roxas. One was white and light colors, the Oathkeeper, and one was black and dark colors, the Oblivion. Sora let out a smirk in Vanitas' direction, but Vanitas just shrugged. Sora saw something in Vanitas' eyes change. Before, it seemed as though Vanitas knew for w fact he would prevail, but now he wasn't so sure. Sora didn't fail to realize that he would only be in this form for a limited amount of time, but he pushed the thought to the back of his head. If he defeated Vanitas in the little time he had, everything would be alright.<br>"What good does changing outfits do you?" Vanitas sneered. Sora opened his mouth to answer, but decided Vanitas probably knew what good it did. He was given more powers, including another key blade. Vanitas was just trying to stall Sora so the drive form wore off. This was his most powerful drive from, the Final Form, and he couldn't let his transformation go to waste. He had to use his limited powers against Vanitas.  
>Sora charged forward, both the Oathkeeper and Oblivion in his hands. Vanitas slid to the right and Sora ran past him. Vanitas raised his key blade, thinking defeating his boy will be too easy.<br>"You see, even if your most powerful form, you can't defeat..." Vanitas blinked in utter shock as Sora seemed to have disappeared from under Vanitas' nose. The boy whose name meant sky had been next to Vanitas, but when Vanitas turned, he was not there. "Me...?" Vanitas finished with a tone of confusion in his voice.  
>"Well, that backfired on you," Riku stared, eyeing Vanitas very carefully. Vanitas shot back a nasty look, and decided eliminating one person would be enough until he found Sora. Riku smiled, as he and Sora's plan was going their way.<br>"Alright, come at me under the blue sky," Riku said, and got into a fighting stance. His key blade raised above his head, pointed at Vanitas, and his arm stretched out. The black haired boy dashed forward, but nothing was happening.  
>"Under the blue SKY," Riku repeated, putting emphasis on 'Sky'. Sora needed to hear the code word, as the name 'Sora' literally meant 'Sky'. Sora leaped off the top of the tallest palm tree. A pink-orange egg had once sat upon it, but when Sora was 15, he had removed it. He, Riku, and Kairi had needed it for their raft. Sora, snapping out of his many memories, landed in front of Vanitas and slashed across his stomach. Vanitas, not expecting the boy to land on the sand in front of him, was injured by Sora's key blade attack. He floated through the air, slowing himself so he could try to recover. But Sora, as he was in his Final Form, would not allow that to occur. He used the Oblivion to knock Vanitas higher in the air, and did a full front flip to reach his enemy soaring above his and Riku's heads. Vanitas took his key blade, the Void Gear, and got ready to duel Sora mid air. Sora spread the Oathkeeper and Oblivion apart, so his arms didn't make contact with his body.<br>"Vanitas, you're gonna lose," Sora smirked again, making that twice he's done it. The Oathkeeper was kept by his side, but he thrust the Oblivion at Vanitas, a cloud of dark magic surrounding it. Vanitas blocked the attack, both the physical and magical part of it. In turn, though, Sora used the Oathkeeper to knock Vanitas higher in the air and closer to the water.  
>"It's over," Sora looked at Vanitas, who still would not give up his confidence.<br>"No," Vanitas panted, as his potions fell to the ground more than 50 feet below the two boys. Riku caught all of them save one, which smashed to the ground. Its shattered pieces soared everywhere, as the green healing liquid spilled out onto the sand.  
>Vanitas' grip on the Void Gear was looser than normal, so Sora threw the Oblivion at Vanitas. Vanitas hit the black key blade back to Sora and laughed.<br>"Haha! What was that supposed to do?" Vanitas chuckled. Sora smiled. He knew that that wasn't the Oblivion's purpose for being thrown, but Vanitas didn't. Sora slid the Oathkeeper between Vanitas' right hand and the Void Gear and punched him in the nose. On instinct, Vanitas' left hand flew to his nose, and Sora twisted the Oathkeeper until the Void Gear left Vanitas' other hand.  
>"What?" Vanitas shouted, and Sora landed a seven hit combo on him. Vanitas flew up, not a scratch on his clothes, but his nose bleeding.<br>Sora's feet landed by Riku's very softly, as he had not desired to fall the whole way down. Sora looked down at his left hand, and the Oblivion appeared. The Void Gear was no wear to be seen, and dead Unversed lay around Riku.  
>"We won," Riku's forehead was beaded with sweat, and Sora was thankful once again to his friend for taking down one threat while he finished another. The boys' eyes widened and they whirled around when a sickening thud was heard behind them. The one laying unmoving on the shore, waves gently flowing around his figure, was Vanitas.<p> 


	4. Explaining

Sora, his normal black outfit on, stared at the almost dead looking thing that was Vanitas. Vanitas, the overconfident boy who underestimated the key blade warriors, Sora and Riku.  
>"What do we do now?" Riku asked, thinking about whether to hide Vanitas, or send him out into the ocean. Riku's gray hair fell down around his shoulders; the wind had stopped blowing, as the hot summer day wore on. Sora just stared at Vanitas. Sora was shocked at himself. He sometimes got really "into" a fight and didn't think about what he was doing. Was he too hard on Vanitas? Sora knew that he was his enemy, but he was still curious as to what Vanitas' plan actually was. But now that the body lay, unmoving, on the shore of Destiny Islands, Sora and Riku would never know.<br>"I don't know," Sora sighed and faced Riku. "We didn't think we had a chance of winning."

"Guys! Did you see the waterfall? It was black... And then I fainted. I thought I heard your voice, Sor-" Kairi yelled as her pink, high converse drummed against the bright sand, creating a rhythm. The blue sky was no longer blue; it was a light shade of indigo, save for the orange color that surrounded the sunset. The two boys she was desperate to approach were on Riku's little island, sitting on the tree that bared paopu fruit. Sora and Riku sat there often and talked to each other, so that was not what worried Kairi. What worried the sixteen-year-old red head was the figure lying on the sand, not moving.  
>"Guys! Guys! GUYS!" Kairi shouted, needing to know who that person was. When she reached Riku's island, both boys gazed upon Vanitas. Sora hopped off the tree and bent over Vanitas, Riku close behind. All Kairi could see was Sora's thin lips moving, and Riku's expression. The way Riku's eyebrows scrunched together and the frown of his mature face let Kairi know the matter at hand was serious. She was burning with curiosity, but she was still at least a hundred yards from Riku's island.<br>"We didn't ... Right," Riku stated calmly, his eyes darting from the sand to Vanitas, and then back to the sand. He stepped back slowly from the body as his instincts told him to run away, but if he left now, what would Sora do? Riku sighed inwardly, and came to a conclusion. It was a thought he'd been pushing to the back of his mind, but now it wiggled its way forward. As much as he didn't want to do it, Riku knew it was the only way to make sure Vanitas never woke up to destroy Destiny Islands again.  
>Riku summoned his key blade, Way to the Dawn, and inched closer to Vanitas. He was trying to make it as subtle as possible, but Riku was not stupid. Something as outrageous as this cannot be made subtle. It is an act that is too big to hide. Sora looked at Riku, his blue eyes shining like marbles.<br>"What are you?" he asked, but made his sentence abrupt when Riku raised his key blade. The end of the Way to the Dawn was facing downward as Riku held it over Vanitas' chest. He swallowed many times, cannot believing he's doing this.  
>"It'll save everybody, Sora. Please trust me," Riku pleaded, although his own trust in himself was thin. Sora's eyes widened, as he was torn. Part of Sora wanted to just destroy this enemy, but the wiser half wanted to leave him alive. Although the wiser half had a point, as they DID need to know what Vanitas' objective was, Sora knew that Riku was right.<br>Riku looked at Sora, who nodded. He was agreeing with Riku's idea, but when Sora looked at Vanitas, a strange feeling almost engulfed him. If it had, Sora would have done anything to stop his best friend. The feeling was optimist, thinking that Vanitas had light, but Sora had already concluded that wasn't true. The boy with jet-black hair had maybe been born from taking the darkness out of someone's heart, but Sora and Riku were certain Vanitas was a creature of darkness.  
>"Riku! What-"<br>Both boys whirled around, before Riku brought his key blade down on Vanitas. They laid their eyes upon Kairi, who had sped up her running to see what was going on. Her eyes widened when she saw Vanitas on the ground, unmoving.  
>"No! No, Riku!" Kairi stood between Vanitas and Riku, and put her arms out in a straight line, making it clear she was not going to budge. And you could not change her mind. Her purple-blue eyes burned into Riku, but softened so they only toasted Sora. Her face seemed like it was speaking silently, saying "Please. Please tell me you aren't doing this." Her eyes were filled to the brim with two emotions, both of which hurt Sora. He didn't like to make Kairi angry or disappointed at him, as these were the things that her eyes reflected.<br>"Kairi..." Sora started, not knowing where to start, but Riku decided to leave the explaining to him. The boy's mouth opened, but his long gray hair flew into his mouth. Riku pushed the hair out of the way, tucked it behind his fair colored ears, and began to speak.  
>"Kairi, please let us explain something," Riku pleaded, but Kairi's unbelieving stare had not changed. He could already see his struggle to make Kairi look at this event through his own eyes. Sora looked on and gulped. Kairi, if she didn't understand, would not see Sora the same ever again. He had always loved Kairi, as Kairi had always loved him. Sora didn't want the connection between them to disappear.<br>"Vanitas-" Riku tried again.  
>"Don't start there. The waterfall," Sora suggested forcefully. Riku nodded, as his friend's advice was important at this point in time.<br>"When the waterfall turned black, it was a 'portal' for enemies called the Unversed to come invade the Destiny Islands. Their leader, Vanitas, looks and sounds exactly like Sora, but he's evil."  
>"I figured. He's lying in the sand, Riku," Kairi said flatly.<br>Riku's eyes widened as he processed Kairi's words. Vanitas WAS lying in the sand. He and Sora had caused that. They had known Vanitas was evil, but for what cause? Maybe they could have changed him. What people did that make him and Sora? Riku bit his lip, but knew better than to stop talking all together. Kairi was a year younger than Riku, but she was a Princess of Heart. There was no darkness in her heart, but Riku's heart was stained. He ignored it, but the darkness was there and it would always tempt him. Riku could see problems unlike Sora and Kairi could. He saw things in a different light, and this problem was more serious than they saw. Vanitas was pure darkness, not a speck of light, but his friends were sure to think they've found one.  
>"Kairi, this boy is pure darkness, and he wants your heart," Riku's tone changed. He became more serious and Kairi loosened a little.<br>"My heart?" Kairi was reliving the last time her heart was taken, maybe 2 years ago. It was not a memory that pleased her, and she hated that her heart wasn't strong enough to not be taken.  
>Sora's focus was on something else, however. He raised his eyebrows and stepped closer to Riku, full of suspicion.<br>"Riku, how did you know his objective?" Sora asked, keeping an eye on Kairi. Riku couldn't answer, and a tense silence filled the air. Sora sighed and stepped back, so he stood next to Kairi. If Riku didn't know, that was okay. There were times where Sora's friend saw things differently and knew things Kairi and Sora didn't.  
>"Well, okay then. Maybe he- Oh! That means we have to protect you, Kairi," Sora realized on a whim.<br>All of a sudden, the sound of an attack of darkness was heard. It was a scary noise and the three teenagers noticed it at once. A sound of fast wind and the color of black appeared in the air. Sora knew it came from the boy behind him, but didn't know the attack was aimed for Kairi. Sora whipped around, summoning his key blade in a flash. Kairi let out a yelp as she flew down to the sand, squeezing her eyes tight. The darkness soured over her and toward Riku whose eyes opened wide. In the time quicker than a blink, Riku summoned Way to the Dawn. Vanitas' blow flew toward Riku. The dark air sucked in on itself and sunk to the ground. Sora, Riku, and Kairi looked on in sheer shock as Vanitas' fighting move disappeared under the pure white sand. Sora glanced up at Vanitas to see a brilliant mocking smile on his evil face. His golden eyes stared at the ground, not blinking. The three looked at the substance they were standing on to find it had transformed into something you could not call sand. The teeny tiny grains were all turning a darker color of brown and were still turning darker.  
>"What's going on here?" Riku demanded. Vanitas shrugged and disappeared in a puff of darkness.<p> 


	5. Away

Sora whirled around, expecting his doppelganger to materialize close to him or his friends. And Vanitas liked to use the element of surprise go his advantage. After the sand was unrecognizable as sand, as it was pitch black and the three teenagers were sinking in it, Sora waded over to Kairi.  
>"Are you alright?" Sora bent over his would-be girlfriend, if he wasn't so chicken as to ask her out. The bright blue marbles that were his eyes shined with worry because Kairi was trying to stand up. She had been laying on the sand when it turned black, and when she moved it stuck to her. Every time Kairi was on her knees, she just stumbled and fell back down. She rotated her pretty face around to answer Sora, but a gasp from her puppy love stopped her.<br>A hand went out beside Kairi, clad in black and red. A voice Kairi had not heard but all too familiar for Sora and Riku started to speak.  
>"You underestimate me," Vanitas stepped forward so he was to Kairi's left. He looked at her with his golden eyes, and changed his mood. Or at least to where his emotion was unreadable. Kairi stared deep into his mysterious eyes and started to feel curious. Something was there. A long past, maybe one he wasn't so proud of. Kairi had to find out what had happened, even if it meant leaving Sora and Riku. Even if it meant following this evil person. She swallowed hard and hoped Sora would forgive her.<br>"You know, he's right. You can't keep saving me forever," Kairi said confidently, but she couldn't bring her purple eyes to meet her friends. As she looked down, she realized that the black, gooey sand was not sticking to her. She stood up and didn't budge, not even lean towards the two boys she'd known her whole life. But Kairi also did not fail to notice that Vanitas was just a couple of inches from her, and his chest did not move up and down like a normal person's. That meant he was pure darkness, just as Riku had informed her.  
>'Going with him is dangerous, but...' Kairi thought, and even though her decision was made, she tried to talk herself out of it. Vanitas spun to look at Kairi, who was still staring at the black sand that was now up to Sora and Riku's waist. He grabbed her hand gently, which sent a shock through Kairi's arm. She couldn't tell if it was good or bad, nice or evil. It didn't feel like light being surged through her body, and when she thought about it, Vanitas was darkness. So how could he have sent light-<br>Kairi caught herself rambling in her head. It was a habit she had when she was nervous or uncertain about something. She needed to quit, because how could she think clearly and help anybody if her mind was full of useless thoughts?  
>"Oh, princess, of course leaving is dangerous, but how else will you save your friends from suffocating in this darkness?" Vanitas gestured at the black sand. Kairi and Vanitas were floating above the darkness, maybe because Vanitas was made of it and because Kairi was pure light and she rejected it.<br>Kairi jerked her head up to find Vanitas' face a few inches from hers.  
>"You- You-"<br>Vanitas waved his hands in a surrendering fashion. "You're right. Peeking into another's thoughts is rude. I won't do it anymore." Kairi wondered what else he knew for a second, then sighed and looked at her feet floating a inch above the darkness.  
>Vanitas smiled. He could use the princess' indecisive mood to his advantage. Then he laughed. Yes, it would work perfectly.<br>"Princess, you have a choice. A difficult one, but nonetheless, a choice. Your life or theirs. That simple," Vanitas soothed, sort of.  
>Riku's mouth gaped open as be realized what Vanitas meant. He looked over at Sora, who was confused but knew it was something bad.<br>"Kairi! Kairi!" Riku shouted, trying to move, but the darkness was too deep. Vanitas frowned at the two boys and closed his eyes for a second. The darkness bubbled and stopped rising for a little.  
>Sora and Riku stopped struggling and looked down in surprise at the darkness that froze. The younger boy's face broke into a grin that stretched from ear to ear. His caramel colored hair flapped around his face wildly as he tried to pull the rest of his body free. The older one looked at Vanitas, knowing that this was not his intention. Vanitas was not going to save them if Kairi was still here.<br>"What are you doing?" Riku shouted. He threw his arms up beside him in a angry gesture. Vanitas smiled at him slyly. He started to speak.  
>"Warrior of Dark, you are right. It's true I wouldn't save you without a reason," The boy dressed in red and black said. Kairi jolted her head up so she could look at Vanitas and he could see her raised eyebrow.<br>"Warrior of Dark?" Riku demanded and raised a eyebrow. Vanitas nodded, and then laughed maniacally.  
>"But even you can't escape MY darkness."<br>Then the used-to-be sand rose quickly and steadily. Sora, being shorter than Riku, was already up to his chin in darkness. His arms were stuck by his side, so he couldn't summon his key blade.  
>"Guys! Help plea-" Sora shouted, wiggling and shaking wildly, trying not to go under. But his plea was interrupted when the darkness went over his nose. Riku turned to see the big blue marbles that were Sora's eyes opened really wide just over the darkness. The ocean blue colored iris was moving around looking for his friends to help, blinking each time. He focused on Riku, who was sunk in up to his chin. His last sight before squeezing his eyes shut tight was a blurry version of Riku twisting and yelling at Vanitas and Kairi running towards him. Then all he saw was black.<p>

Kairi's eyes were turning a light shade of red as tears flowed down her cheek. As she watched Sora sink into the darkness and Riku yelling furiously at Vanitas, she knew what her choice was. She had known since the beginning, but what had just happened was the last straw.  
>"STOPP!" Kairi screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. Riku stopped arguing with Vanitas, and even the evil boy of darkness' laughter went to silence as he peered at the girl who had caught their attention. Riku glanced nervously at the darkness around him to see it had stopped rising. Why? Was Kairi? Riku frowned and looked away from the two people floating on the darkness. One was far away, and one was where Sora used to be. He wanted to mute everything out, just get Sora back. They argued, but they were best friends. Kairi knew that and he started to read her lips out of the corner of his eye.<br>She was crying and saying that she'd go with Vanitas, just to save her friends. Riku smiled a sad smile.  
>"That was nice," he thought to himself. Suddenly, the black faded, and Riku could see the sand as the white grains it actually was. He looked around to see Vanitas float to the ground. Riku fell to the beach sand, landing on his knees as he spun around to find his two friends, hoping both of them were not with Vanitas. He finally found them. Kairi was standing by Vanitas (she just walked slowly over there) and wouldn't let her eyes wander. If she did, they would zoom around until they landed on Riku. Instead the purple eyes were fixed on her untied shoe lace that dangled from her pink high top converse. She let four words slip out, as though letting herself speak more would force her to stay with Sora and Riku.<br>"I'm sorry, Sora. Riku."  
>"Kairi..."<br>Riku stood up, shaking a little, and summoned The Way to the Dawn. Vanitas, however, looked unimpressed. He wrapped his arm around Kairi, who flinched. She was pushed closer to Vanitas and Riku knew that his enemy had changed his mission. Kairi's heart would not be stolen from her; Vanitas' golden eyes let Riku know that. But Riku found, unlike most of his enemies, Vanitas was especially hard to read, so he was given no more information.  
>"Princess. Let's leave this peaceful, quiet, BORING Island," Vanitas stepped back and Kairi stumbled. Riku watched in horror as in portal of darkness opened behind the pair, twice as tall as Kairi and wide enough that Vanitas and his "Princess" could fit through. Riku started to charge them but a sudden phrase from Kairi stopped him.<br>"I... I wanted to leave with Vanitas."  
>With that, both teenagers disappeared into the darkness.<p> 


	6. Radiant Garden

Heyy! Personally, I hate this chapter. But whatever. :T Hmmm... I'm about to go on vacation, so I might not have any chapters but for a week. But ill make up for it... Please review!

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><p>Riku didn't dare move. He was—scared to. It was a strange feelings for him, he was never scared, or at least not often. His blue-green eyes just locked onto where Kairi and Vanitas had been standing. Or matter, floating.<p>

He stepped back, remembering that this meant he had a new adventure to attend to. He was excited, and reluctant. But if he had Sora—

Sora!

Riku whipped around, excepting to see his friend lying on the sand. However, the young brunette was nowhere near Riku. Where had he gone?

"Sora!" Riku frowned, as this made no sense to him. His frown only worsened when he realized that Sora was in trouble. He was submerged in that darkness Vanitas had created, and Riku was positive that could not have been a good thing. But, he noted, Sora couldn't have gotten far.

So Riku set out to find him, rushing into a harsh sprint.

* * *

><p>Sora's mind slowly blinked on. The last thing he remembered was being pulled under by the darkness, so where was he now? Sora forced his left eyelid open, as his right simply refused to budge—his left eyelid had started to close even before he could think about it staying open.<p>

He swiveled his head around, only to find that it was throbbing.

_Why? I haven't done anything. Have I?_

Sora blinked and decided that it didn't matter, and he should just get used to it. He slowly pushed himself upward so his face wasn't touching the dusty, tan ground.

_Wait! Dusty—Destiny Islands isn't dusty… It doesn't have the smell of darkness either._

Many questions bounced around inside his head, but none of them would be answered. At least, not yet. He sat up; gazing out onto the horizon of this strange new world he had somehow landed himself on. A loud, long sigh escaped his lips.

_I can't believe this. How am I supposed to get to Riku now?_

Sora decided to past some time thinking about this place by walking around and examining it. He peered down past his baggy shorts and skinny legs to his big black shoes. Might as well stretch them out, and he stood up. He walked a few steps forward and backwards, just trying to prove his legs still worked. He bent down, letting his hands land squarely on the ground, then sliding up to his shoes, which were not hard to reach as they stuck up off the ground so much. He brought his back up, and eyed the dusty plain suspiciously. Surprisingly, no Heartless, Nobodies, or even Unversed attacked him. He stepped one foot in front of the other, and after walking about 50 feet, he felt the darkness get stronger. What—No, who was that? Suddenly, an old raspy voice spoke to him. He couldn't see its owner, but already knew it must belong to an evil source.

"You have arrived, young hero."

Sora looked up, to his side, and behind him. There was absolutely nothing or no one, and he was the only THING that walked this plain. He shrugged, saying it was nothing to get worked up about, even though people talking that you can't see were usually bad.

_If I must reply.._

"I guess I have. Where is this? Who are you? Why'd you bring me here? How'd you bring me here?" Sora shouted because he wanted to make sure his voice reached the invisible speaker. He had stopped walking and was waiting for the man's answer, and soon enough the wise-sounding voice rang in his ears and filled the air around him.

"My, my, don't ask as many questions. But you shall find those answers yourself, young hero."

_Hmph. That was no help._

And with that, Sora trudged along, his feet dragging in the tan dirt.

* * *

><p>"Sora! Sora!"<p>

Riku scratched his head. "Where could he be?" Little by little, Riku's head was juggling ideas of what could have happened. And he did not like what he was coming up with. He had told himself over and over that Sora was just hiding from him, but why, Riku would never know. And soon, he snapped himself out of that useless hope. Sora couldn't and wouldn't hide.

_If I don't find him soon, I'll have to leave without him._

He did not want to do that. If Sora was still here when Riku left, he would be stranded. So Riku gave himself another thirty minutes to keep looking.

And looking.

And looking…

Riku stumbled onto the beach, as he had tripped over a stray log. He turned around, and sat down on it. Even though the log was very small and looked very breakable, it didn't snap under Riku's weight. HE shifted from left to right, just to make sure. Riku leaned forward, his back hunched a bit, and rest his head on his hand. He thought over this very carefully.

_If I leave, there's always the chance Sora was here. But how? I looked everywhere.. _

_Unless he's in another world. _

_Another world!_

_But, how would he have got there? He was trapped in the darkness from maybe 5 minutes. He wouldn't have gotten dark powers that quickly. _

_So the chance of a dark corridor is out.._

_Well, the best I can do now is either wait or go and hope I find him._

_Wait._

_Hope._

_Wait._

_Hope._

_Hope._

_Go and hope. That's my only answer._

Riku stood up, closed his eyes, and held his hand out.

_I know I'll regret this… But—_

A flash of darkness surrounded Riku's hand, and he smirked. "Guess I've still got it." Slowly, after many tries, a dark corridor opened.

Riku stared at it. He swallowed, and whispered, "It won't hurt. I'll—It's for Sora and Kairi. It won't hurt."

And he stepped through.

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><p>"So, what do we do now, Leon? There's…?"<p>

A timid voice asked, before she stopped herself. Everybody in the room was staring very intently at the wall behind her. More than that, their eyes seemed to be focused on one single object. She turned very slowly, taking her time, not sure of what to expect.

She leapt up from her chair, and soon she was too staring quietly at the wall where she was sitting. On the brown wall, an oval section was darkness. A dark corridor, if she remembered correctly. But the thing that intrigued her was the single hand that seeped through the darkness and the wall. She gasped, as she came to the realization that it would have grabbed her.

"Wha…?" One of her friend's said, wrapping up how they all felt pretty nicely.

"OH! There's people!" A voice exclaimed from inside the corridor, then muttered, "I better get out of this… stuff then."

The group of people didn't move as Riku stepped out of the dark corridor, or rather, the wall. Riku pushed his hair back, as traveling through dark corridors always pushed it in his face. Not that Riku couldn't see through his bangs, he had spent months seeing through a blindfold, after all. It just seemed more… respectful, and Riku didn't know these people. Sora did, but he knew saying I'm Riku probably wouldn't ring any of their bells.

The girl with the timid voice smiled. She had long, brown hair pulled into a braid and bright green eyes. Her genuine smile didn't match well with her friends (he assumed the four of them were friends) reaction. An older man with blonde hair and a toothpick sticking out of his mouth, a cute girl with short black hair and red-violet eyes, and a brunette wearing black who he concluded was in his mid twenties were the people that made up this group. The girl with short, black hair cocked her head to one side, confused.

_She has to have seen a Dark Corridor before, right? Maybe it's just because I don't look evil but I came out of one._

The blonde older man and younger brunette just glared daggers at him. Obviously something was very wrong here.

_Am I in the wrong world? No, I made sure I came to Radiant Garden._

Riku looked each of the four in the eyes trying to communicate with them silently that he wasn't a threat. He managed to look at the girl in pink for the longest only because she looked like she didn't want to kill him.

The girl in black coughed. "Well, this is awkward."

She looked at the brunette expectantly, who only gave her a look that clearly said, "Shut up."

"Uh, I guess I should introduce..." Riku started, but didn't finish his statement when a gunblade was pointed at him. Riku's eyes widened and he leaned backwards. HE took this time to notice the brunette with the weapon had a scar about three inches long that started on his forehead and crossed diagonal across his nose.

_So he's definitely been in battles._

"You might want to leave. Anyone who comes out of those… things is not good," the middle-aged man didn't lower his blade.

Riku took a few steps back, and swallowed.

_Please, please know who Sora is. Please._

"Actually, I will leave. In a little bit. I'm just searching this world for my friend."

The girl in black hopped over to where Riku was standing, leaned forward, and peered into his eyes. Sora's friend raised his eyebrows. What is she doing? "He's not lying, Leon."

They all turned to him; the brunette who Riku guessed was Leon. He slowly lowered his blade. "Fine. Who are you?"

Riku smirked, and then thought better of it. He wiped the sly grin off his face and replied, "I'm Riku. My friend is…"

The girl's eyes seemed to get bigger. "THE Riku? Really?" she asked, too excited for Riku's liking.

"Uh, sure, I guess…?"

The girl rushed over and hugged him. Riku stared down at her.

_WHAT is happening?_

"You have to contact Sora, Cid! He'll be so happy!" she leg out of Riku, and grinned up at him. "I'm Aerith, by the way. She's Yuffie." The girl in black frowned.

"The Great Ninja Yuffie! Is that really so hard to remember?" She exclaimed, pretending to be mad, and failing miserably at it.

_Ninja?_

Riku started to explain that actually this time, he was looking for Sora, but Cid was already out the door.

"Where is he going?" he asked.

Yuffie perked up at this question, "He went to the computer to get Sora, of course! Sora wanted to find you very badly."

Riku smiled. That was a good thought; Sora was still going on about finding him and Kairi, even if it was his second time visiting the worlds. Then he frowned, much to Aerith and Yuffie's confusion.

"What?" Leon asked, even though it sounded like he was barely paying attention. Riku had a hunch that he wasn't.

"Well, there's an issue."

"Huh?" The girls asked, while Leon just looked at Riku skeptically. He sighed and closed his eyes quickly. He didn't want to explain that the three of them where on Destiny Islands and somehow, Riku managed to not know where either one of his friends were. He decided just to get this over with, so he started to speak very fast.

Cid appeared in the doorway in the middle of Riku's explanation with a look of worry of his face, but after he heard it, Cid began to understand. He breathed heavily, and chewed thoughtfully on his wooden toothpick.

"I guess that's why I couldn't locate him."

Riku's jaw would have dropped, but only carefree (in a good way) people like Sora did that. Instead, a little bit of worry flashed in his eyes.

"At all? He's nowhere?" Riku shifted his weight slightly, rocking back and forth on his heels.

_That makes no sense… That would mean he was dead, or something. And Sora's not dead… _

_I think._

Cid nodded, but didn't say anything.


	7. Mysterious Man

Hey peeps! Just saying that I was gone, and I'll start postig chapters again as soon as I can! Hey, also please leave a review! It doesnt have to be long, just something to let me know I'm updating this for a reason. Enjoy!

Wow, that was short...

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><p>Cid nodded, but didn't say anything.<p>

Everybody in the room was shocked into silence. Aerith frowned sadly and studied her sand-colored boots. Leon stared at Riku, daring him to say that he was joking. Yuffie gasped and seemed to lose a layer of her usual silliness. Riku was the first to speak up. He couldn't take this sad, worried silence anymore.

"Then your machine screwed up," he said matter-of-factly, folding his arms across his chest. "Something wouldn't happen to Sora that quickly. No, something like that wouldn't happen AT ALL."

_I wish I was as confident as I sounded._

Cid studied Riku, and then bobbed his head very slowly.

"You seem to be very trusting in your friend," he started, "I like it! If he's out there, he's out there!"

Riku looked at the older man across the room, surprised. He'd never met these people before, so he wasn't sure if this was their usual attitude. Before he could dwell on it for much longer, Leon pulled him out of his thoughts.

"You should travel and look for him."

Riku smiled, or at least put on the best smile he could. He didn't smile a lot, so he never really practiced. Then, also something Riku didn't do much, he laughed.

"Thanks guys."

The air in the room had significantly changed. Tension did not surround the five; now, it was a happy playfulness that made Yuffie, Aerith, and even the three boys laugh. Riku found himself wanted to stay here, as the strangers from Radiant Garden had started to befriend him.

Yuffie leaned against the wall, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. She bit her lip, looked around the room, her eyes not really resting on anything. She moved her grey converse around, putting one in from of the other, crossing her legs. Then she would frown and cross them again, except the other foot was in front this time. She would occasionally blow out of her mouth, not speaking, but not sighing either. Yuffie did not seem to realize everybody in the room (which happened to be Merlin's House) was staring at her. In fact, she seemed to have forgotten about everyone and was oblivious to them.

_What is she doing?_ Riku wondered.

_Hmmm… Riku seemed upbeat about looking for Sora, would this news change that?_ Yuffie blew again. _Probably not, I mean… What do I mean?_

_Okay, she needs to say something._ Riku started to wake his hand in her face, but apparently had no reason to, because then Yuffie jerked her head so she was looking straight at Riku.

"Well, do you think you could find him sorta fast?" Yuffie said, but her tone suggested she really didn't want to ask this question.

That wasn't what Riku had been expecting. "Uh, sure I guess." He replied slowly.

Yuffie nodded, then seemed to think some more. This time, it required a LOT more blowing.

_Hmmmm. Should I? _Yuffie blew softly.

_I guess I should. I mean, he'll find out anyway._ Yuffie blew harder.

_Fine! Fine! I'll tell him. _Yuffie blew really hard; you could have sworn people outside the room in the street would have heard her.

"Well, we're having problems of our own," she said cautiously. And Yuffie was not the person to speak cautiously; more like hyper and energetic.

_The Heartless! Or maybe the Nobodies!_

"I'll help, and when I find Sora, he'll be happy to help."

Yuffie jumped up and down happily, but Leon seemed to realize something nobody else did. He raised his Gunblade, but this time didn't point it at Riku. Instead, the Gunblade was swung back so it rested on his shoulder. But if Leon wanted to, he could hold the handle tighter and swing down to start an attack or maybe even a combo.

"I don't think you've seen these before," Leon announced, making it quite clear these weren't Heartless or Nobodies. Riku was confused, before he remembered the one other type of enemy he had faced. He drew his keyblade, the Way to the Dawn. Aerith smiled.

"You have one of those too?" she asked innocently. Riku nodded, and wondered if anybody in Merlin's house could fight but Leon.

Cid grinned madly. "Well, then. We gonna kick some butts or what?" He left the room, again.

_What is he getting?_

Yuffie kicked open the door, while Aerith warned her not to break it. Leon charged outside, barreling towards the enemies, not afraid. Riku examined the swarm of enemies (mainly Floods, Scrappers, and Bruisers), and unfortunately recognized them.

_Unversed. Of course._

Riku followed Leon's example, running outside. He jumped over some Floods that had sunken into the ground below him, waiting for perfect timing to rise out of the ground and attack. Riku raised his keyblade over his head and pointed his hand out, as that was his battle stance. Some Floods rose out of the ground, wondering who this new rival was, having not seen him before. They avoided his legs, moving about, but Riku managed to kill some anyway. As the Way to the Dawn stabbed a Scrapper that was trying to uselessly claw Riku, he heard something behind him. At first, it was quiet, but soon it became louder. It made a noise like a boom and a gunshot, while also creating a bright light. Riku leaped forward, not entirely sure what it was. He managed to land right in the middle of the crowd of Unversed. He quickly took them all to the ground and then learned what the sound was. Cid was laughing like a crazy person, holding a strange object in his hands. It was like a mix between a cannon and a massive gun. It was a light brown color, with parts that were colored white or black.

"HAHAHA!" Cid roared, and that alone caused some Unversed to back away. Riku found himself smiling. It was a little weird looking and sounding, but Cid and his cannon held their own in a way that made Riku want to laugh.

_Are all the worlds this nice? I guess making friends is good._

"Watch out!" someone shouted, snapping Riku out of his thoughts. He watched, blown away, as a giant gray Shuriken flew through the air, twirling and knocking out a Bruiser in front of Riku. Yuffie landed on her feet beside Riku, teasing him.

"You bored already?" Yuffie caught her Shuriken as it boomeranged back into her hand. She leaped up into the air and her Shuriken disappeared from her hand. She grinned and it appeared about 10 feet away, slicing through a line of Unversed.

"Aerith should be here soon," Yuffie informed Riku, who turned around to see the girl in pink running towards them.

_Oh no, will she get hurt?_

Riku kicked a Flood away in the opposite direction Aerith was in, as a horde was running to her. They didn't see a weapon, and neither did Riku. She raised a Staff, and started to cast her magic.

Riku smirked.

"Let's take them down."

* * *

><p>Sora frowned, and gazed to the horizon. He'd been walking for a LONG time, and yet, there seemed to be no end to this plain. He sighed, wishing he knew what had happened, or maybe that voice would tell him something.<p>

"You wish for knowledge?"

There was that voice again. Sora looked to his side and saw a figure staring at him. He was too far way to see his face; however, Sora could still make out some of his features.

_He's bald, has a big black jacket on, and boots. And he looks old._

Sora started to walk over to this man, but realized that might be bad. He didn't know anything about him, and Sora had to stay alive so he could see Riku and Kairi. Kairi needed to be rescued, who knew what Vanitas wanted, and Riku was probably looking for him.

"You hope," The man said flatly, "But you don't know."

Sora started to argue, then bent his head down when he realized what the figure meant. He really had no clue whether Riku was searching for him or not. Sora hoped he was, but in all honesty, it would be wiser to try and help Kairi first. Sora's hands were clenched into fists. How dare this man peek into his thoughts? They were his.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, or what you're planning. But stay away from me and my friends," Sora grumbled and his anger was easily heard through his words.

_We had just gotten home after what happened at the World That Never Was, and now this! _

The man took a step towards Sora. He had been standing under the shadows of a tall, dusty structure that had just appeared there. When he departed from the dark, you could see his face a little clearer. Sora jerked his head up, and the man was walking in his direction.

A feeling of fear swept over Sora, almost knocking him down. He was itching to break out into a run, but knew that would only make the mysterious person see him as afraid, and that could not be allowed.

_Hmmm… He has beady gold eyes, a short gray beard, and white gloves. What else says 'Bad Guy' than that?_

The Ultima was summoned to Sora, and he gripped it with both hands before looking back at his enemy. The man only laughed, mocking Sora.

"Do you really want to fight me? You're too weak to fight me, and I've got plans for you."

The man rushed forward, taking Sora by surprise. He leaped back, looking on in disgust when the man's keyblade crushed the ground where he had been standing. The man's keyblade was black and gray. The handle was jagged and the blade split into two after it, only to join up at the end of the weapon. The end of the keyblade harbored a bunch of gray crossing lines and a blue eye, wide open and staring at its opponent. A replica of this eye was based at the stopping point of a short, silver chain connected to the handle.

Sora swallowed, and thought over this. The man read Sora's face like a open book and smirked.

"Fight, young hero."

Sora frowned in annoyance.

_Fine! I know I'll regret this, but.._

Sora charged at this powerful, old man, who only saw Sora's attempt to land a blow on him funny. After many blocks on the man's part, Sora dodge-rolled back. He huffed for a few seconds, then decided there was no way he could lose. He jumped into the air and swung his blade at the man, once again.

_This is gonna be a long battle._


	8. Riku's Soup Complex

OMG IM SO SORRY! I left for the longest time ever, and I'm back! School gor REALLY REALLY REALLY crazy, and I had to do a bazillion projects instead of writing... :( Sigh... Alright, so for people STILL reading this, here's the newest chapter. I've got some big plots points coming in the next chapter, so be prepared for that.. UGH Riku was supposed to be .. where he's supposed to be (sorry no spoilers) by now, but apparently he has a complex about owing people stuff and junk like that. So after a lot of unusually intense dinner decisions, I bring u this chapter! :D

* * *

><p>Riku wiped sweat off his forehead, and walked past everybody into Merlin's bathroom. There was a mirror in there, and Riku couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere, he should have a cut or scratch or something.<p>

He brought his hand down to inspect his sweat or whatever was on his head. His eyes widened in horror when a red oozing liquid covered his hand.

"Blood..." Riku muttered and made his feet take him to the bathroom faster. When he finally reached the small, wooden door, he discovered to his happiness that it was unlocked.

Upon entering and seeing his reflection, Riku frowned. His reflection looked like him alright, but his forehead was different. Instead of his normal healthy looking peach skin, there was a boy with crazy silver hair and one long cut across the top of his forehead. It was about two inches and a half long, and it started above his eye and soon cut through his eyebrow. The hair around the wound was a maroon-like red, and it was crusty. Riku ran his finger across the area the cut covered, and thankfully, no more blood poured out.

But anyone could see that tons of the red liquid had already parted from his skin, and only now it was nothing but crusty and dried up.

"Guess I better wipe this up before Aerith comes and makes a huge deal over it," Riku sped through his words, as if she would stumble in. Riku couldn't shoo the girl out, but the knowledge was always there that he could have cleaned himself up if he hadn't spoken.

Soon enough, a damp towel was in Riku's hand and a layer of a sticky red substance covered it. He sighed, and realized a flaw in his plan for the cut to go unnoticed. Riku would have to wash the towel somewhere and for that, he'd need to ask someone where he could do that. They would be able to easily see the blood stain, and in turn, they would worry. This was the last thing Riku wanted anyone to do.

In the end, Riku threw the rag away and made a silent promise that he would buy the four a new towel when he had the spare time.

_Hopefully, _Riku thought, _Finding Sora won't take that long and I'll have plenty of time to buy a new towel.  
><em>  
>"Hey, Riku? Are you going to stay for dinner?" Riku heard Aerith's question. He slowly pushed the bathroom door open and peered out into the long hallway. The smell of warm soup drifted into his nose, and for the fourth time that day, he grinned. The scent seemed to act like a magnet, as Riku was being drawn helplessly to it, but he managed to keep a straight mind.<p>

Riku let his feet take him to the kitchen, where everyone was sitting and chatting. He realized with a twinge of embarrassment nobody else had any wounds or damage done to them. Riku wondered if that made him weak, but he quickly dismissed that thought. Cid was the first to notice Riku standing there, and broke out in a stupid grin.

"Well, there ya are!" he hollered, and Aerith jumped. She turned towards Cid with big eyes, wondering what in the world made him so crazy. Yuffie took notice of Aerith and Cid's display and rolled her eyes. Her face was about to crack into a fit of laughter, and you could see it was taking a great deal of force to hold it back.

Leon was the only one who seemed to notice how far away Riku's mind was. Riku's gaze passed over Leon's, and their eyes locked for a second. Riku silently mouthed "forehead" and glanced at the table quickly, as to not draw attention to him and the fact there was a long cut in his forehead. The skin was closing, but Riku just hoped no more blood would spill out of it.

"You gonna sit down? Cid makes the best soup!" Yuffie howled, causing Aerith to give her a stare that clearly quieted her down. Yuffie sighed and sat back down in her chair while Cid leaned back in his. He placed his hands behind his head and smiled sheepishly.

"It IS pretty great," Cid laughed, making a feeling rise up in Riku's stomach. He didn't belong here. They were just different people. These Radiant Garden natives fit together nicely and they could laugh together.

Riku couldn't.

"Have some! Have some!" Yuffie called, but she didn't jump up from her seat. Aerith's firm stare yet gentle smile kept her in place.

"I... I can't," Riku whispered, then realizing how weak that was, raised his voice. "Sorry, I have to leave and find Sora quickly." The group looked at him with different expressions. Cid looked at his empty bowl sadly, probably wishing Riku knew how delicious it was. Aerith smiled wearily, her green eyes blinking many times. It was probably a habit or she was blinking back tears. As this passed Riku's mind, he was mentally shocked. They had only just met, and yet she was already in tears now that he was leaving? Riku quickly dismissed the thought, as it was too strange to even comprehend.

"Surely you can stay for a bowl of soup?" Aerith asked, and her face almost brought Riku to a point where he would say yes, but he controlled himself. He couldn't stay, no matter how such these four wanted him too. They may have been tricked into thinking he had enough light in his heart to be one of them. But Riku knew he wasn't. After all, he had a job to do. And maybe finding Sora was more important than staying at Merlin's house and devouring a bowl of soup.

"No, I'm sorry. But I really can't." Realizing how center minded he probably sounded right then, Riku added, "When I find Sora, I'll definitely stay for dinner."

That seemed to keep Aerith happy for the moment. Yuffie sighed, and Leon picked a soup to start on a second bowl. Cid pouted a little, but tried to maintain his manliness and shifted in his chair. He was trying to think of something to say.

He opened this mouth, but Yuffie beat him to it.

"Why don't you take something for the road?" She asked, her voice so load it hurt Riku's ears. Did she always mean to be that loud? Riku thought over her question. He could use something for the road, but….

"No, I think I can handle myself," Riku smiled, but it had a hint of smirk in it. What he wouldn't say to the four is that he didn't want to go on his journey feeling like he owed anybody anything. He wanted to leave Merlin's house free of debts and arrive back with nothing. If he brought them back anything, he decided, it would be out of joyfulness, not a debt of gratitude. And besides, a debt would just be another thing on his mind and that was the last thing he needed right now.

Yuffie frowned, feeling slightly defeated. She couldn't believe he had said no. "Alright then." Yuffie puckered her lips and stared at the edge of the table. Her hands were tucking on her bangs, and all of a sudden she had an urgent question.

"Hey!..." Yuffie started, but her question soon faded off into inexistence. Everyone, or just Cid, leaned forward in curiosity, wondering what Yuffie had to ask. And more importantly, why was Yuffie having these scenes where her questions were important to ask?

Cid opened his mouth to demand her to finish the question, but once again, Yuffie spoke before Cid. As her words came out, Cid sat back and crossed his arms. He chewed silently on his toothpick, too frustrated to interrupt. And that, for Cid, was very unusual. Aerith and Leon took note of his Cid's attitude towards his inability to speak. Aerith gave a slight giggle, while Leon rolled his eyes.

"How long has Sora been gone?"

Riku blinked in confusion, as he didn't expect this question out of Yuffie. He expected a question that was lighter hearted and away from the big issue he was having. Still skeptical of Yuffie's reason for the question, Riku answered.

"Since this morning…"

Yuffie's eyes widened and it seemed as if she came into contact with some knowledge nobody else in the room had. She crossed her arms tightly and a look of worry and strangely enough, understanding passed across her face.

"Well, news gets passed around about possible enemies in Radiant Garden when we've all been trying real hard to make sure nothing gets screwed up, you know. And, recently, I've heard about this person named… Vanitas," Yuffie explained, never smiling once.

Riku raised an eyebrow, now interested. Leon did the same, but Aerith just cocked her head to the side and Cid frowned deeply. For some reason, this information from Yuffie was really infuriating Cid.

"Hey, wait a darn second here! I was never told 'bout this Vanitas guy!" Cid roared, causing Aerith to wince when his voice entered her ear. Yuffie forgot about the serious mood she was setting in the room, and whirled around to face Cid and start another meaningless argument. Riku sighed.

_If the people here know about Vanitas, does that mean he and Kairi have been over here? Or was Sora sent somewhere by Vanitas?_

_Hmmm.. If that's the case, I'd better find him quickly._

_And I don't know if these people have anything to offer with finding those two, but I'm…_

_I'm gonna leave. I've been putting it off long enough._

In the midst of Yuffie and Cid having a "heated discussion", Aerith trying to calm things down, and Leon rolling his eyes while enjoying this whole thing, Riku walked out the door. The thought of him saying goodbye and how his departure was lacking it crossed Riku's mind a few times, but he quickly pushed it away.

After walking around the town for a while and remembering what had happened to him here, Riku realized he had to find another way of transportation. Corridors of Darkness were convenient, but probably weren't something Riku should be traveling in anytime soon.

A gust of wind blew Riku's hair back and sent a chill down his spine. He turned his head to search for an inn or something like that, but none were in sight. The wind was getting increasingly stronger, and it was enough to make Riku uncomfortable.

_Hmmmm… I guess…_

_But this is the last time._

Riku looked down at his hand and the spark of darkness around it. A corridor quickly opened in front of him, and his shoulders slumping in frustration, Riku stepped through it.


End file.
